CRRJ and Southern University celebrate a decade in partnership

On Thursday, July 11, 2024, the decade-long partnership between Northeastern University School of Law’s Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project (CRRJ) and the Southern University Law Center’s Louis A. Berry institute for Civil Rights & Justice (SULC) was celebrated at the school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Together, teams from CRRJ, directed by Professor Margaret Burnham, and SULC, led by Ada Goodly Lampkin, have spent 10 years investigating historical cases of Jim Crow-era anti-Black violence, uncovering the truth and seeking justice for victims’ descendants, in recognition of the pain and trauma their families have endured for generations.

The event was attended by Burnham, Goodly Lampkin, as well as the Institute’s Project Manager, John Collins; Southern University and AM College Chancellor, John Pierre; MIT Chancellor and co-founder of the Burnham Nobles Digital Archive, Melissa Nobles; CRRJ Associate Director, Professor Rose Zoltek-Jick; descendent community members; and former students, including Bayliss Fiddiman, (NUSL ’13) Raymond Wilkes, (SULC ’18) and Anastasia Griffin (MsCSL ’19).

It celebrated all that this powerful team has accomplished since the summer program started in 2014.

“We could not have imagined, when we first ran a CRRJ clinic at Southern University Law Center in 2014, that one of the students in that classroom would keep the torch burning for a decade,” said Burnham. “Ada Goodly Lampkin and her team are to be saluted for their creative leadership, stellar teaching, and enormous contributions to our common mission – unearthing these historical atrocities and finding avenues for commemoration and reparation. We are deeply honored to be SULC’s partner in this research.”

Each summer for the past ten years, a cohort of SULC students are assigned several cases, prepared collaboratively by CRRJ attorneys and historian Dr. Jay Driskell. They spend several weeks extensively investigating these cases, following the pedagogy outlined and developed by CRRJ’s Clinic, and present their findings before a panel of experts at Internship Grand Rounds, which was this year held July 14 at the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office in New Orleans, LA.

“It has proven to be an extraordinary collaboration in which the value of working in community, where these cases have taken place, proves the need for this kind of partnership,” said Zoltek-Jick. “Our work with Southern underscores the importance of place in our creation of this Archive.”

Their research is organized for inclusion in The Burnham Nobles Digital Archive, a CRRJ initiative — supported by the Ford Mellon Foundation and Northeastern University Library — that seeks to document and preserve, the histories of lethal crimes against African Americans in the Jim Crow South.

Following a brunch for guests, presentations and remarks were offered by many of the experts and attorneys present, including Pierre, Burnham, Nobles, Zoltek-Jick and Goodly Lampkin.

“As we look back on the past ten years, we are reminded of the profound impact that our partnership has had on individuals and communities,” said Goodly Lampkin, who described her affiliation with the program as “the highlight of [her] legal career.”

A brief video was then played to those in attendance, highlighting some the groundbreaking work produced by this partnership.

“The stories we have uncovered and the families we have supported stand as a testament to the power of collaborative efforts in the pursuit of justice,” said Goodly Lampkin.

About the Archive

The Burnham-Nobles Digital Archive houses case files and documents for more than 1,000 cases of racial homicides in the Jim Crow South. Co-founded by Melissa Nobles, professor of political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Margaret Burnham, CRRJ director and professor of law at Northeastern, these uncovered stories highlight how violence affected lives, defined legal rights and shaped politics between 1930 and 1954.

Moving testimonies were shared by family members of victims from the clinic’s case investigations, including Southern University Police Department Chief Joycelyn Johnson and her uncle, Fred Selvage. Of their presence at the celebration, Zoltek-Jick noted this “added a dimension of reality that even the power of our records cannot produce.” This “human poignance … adds a sacred quality to the work,” she said.

Former students of the program, Bayliss Fiddiman, Breanna Magee, and RayVon Addison, spoke of their time investigative efforts, how it prepared them for their future legal careers, and impacted their outlook on civil rights today.

“The Summer 2024 CRRJ Internship was a fulfilling, yet humbling, opportunity,” said Magee, a second-year law student, during Grand Rounds. “Investigating cases from the Jim Crow era presented great difficulties, but also shaped me into a better legal researcher.” Magee’s summer was spent researching the killing of Robert Icer Ray, in Hinds County, Mississippi on May 12, 1952.

CRRJ-SULC colleagues, including Professor Margaret Burnham (far left) at Grand rounds, July 14, 2024. Photo courtesy of OPDA Communications. — CRRJ leadership meet with Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams and his staff. Photo courtesy of OPDA Communications.

Professor Zoltek-Jick, in discussion at Grand Rounds. Photo courtesy of OPDA Communications.

Chancellor Nobles in discussion. Photo courtesy of OPDA Communications.

On the future of the collaboration, Goodly Lampkin said they remain committed to continuing this vital work. “We will persist in our efforts to shine a light on injustice, educate the next generation of civil rights lawyers, and honor the memories of those whose lives were tragically cut short by racial violence,” she said.

“Together, we have made significant strides toward justice and healing. Let us celebrate this milestone with renewed determination to continue our work and make an even greater impact in the years to come.”